


Twinks With Pretty Drinks

by PrettyPinkPotent



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance Club, Bartender!Lance, Bipolar Disorder, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gets a lil dark yall, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, M/M, Will add more tags as we go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyPinkPotent/pseuds/PrettyPinkPotent
Summary: Keith spends his life grateful that he doesn’t know the boy all his friends talk about from their job. Lance spends his days working his ass off, both in school and at his job as a bartender. A fateful meeting leads them on a journey of self discovery, full of love and pretty pink cocktails.





	Twinks With Pretty Drinks

**Author's Note:**

> Just another College AU with a dark twist. This is the writer's experience with these kinds of issues. Some things may not be 100% accurate but hey we were passing a joint while writing so... here goes.

The harsh sounds of Keith’s alarm disturb the quiet air of his room. He groans and rolls over to quickly turn it off before it can wake everyone in the apartment, unaware that they had all awoken much earlier. The bed sheets catch around his ankles as he stumbles out of bed, the whole time questioning his insane decision to take his Thermodynamics class at 8:30 in the morning. He grabs his clothes for the day along with his towel and opens his bedroom door to the living room, only to find Pidge amidst several empty Red Bull cans.  


“How’s your paper coming along?” He hesitantly asks her.  


“I’ve been awake for the past 48 hours. I’m on my fifth Red Bull and third Five Hour Energy. At some point I took three shots of tequila, but I don’t know why or when. I also cried when I dropped a grape on the floor, but at least I’m almost done,” she replies with a tired, crazed look.  


“Okay,” he says backing away slowly, “I’ll just... leave you to it.”  


Keith heads to the bathroom and makes a silent vow to avoid Pidge until she’s done with her paper. He loves her to death, but he’s utterly terrified of her when she’s running on empty. Keith’s honestly amazed she hasn’t died with the amount of work she does. She’s far too smart for her own good; she graduated high school early at the top of her class. Despite being two years younger than him she’s in the same year at VU.  


He strips out of his grey sweatpants and turns the shower on, impatiently waiting for the water to heat up. As much as he loved his Thermodynamics class, he hated how early he had to get up for it. There was never enough time to fully wake up or eat a proper breakfast. Thank God for Pidge and Shiro’s caffeine addiction. They kept the apartment stocked with coffee at all times, which meant that Keith could survive the day without passing out from exhaustion.  


He hops into the shower, wincing at how hot the water is, and loses himself in it. Despite knowing that he has to leave for class soon, he spends what feels like an eternity with the thoughts that always plague him in his down time. Like how Shiro and his family had always been there for him. Especially after his mother was killed by a drunk driver when he was five. The pain of never getting to know her still stings. His father, overwhelmed by grief, committed suicide when he was ten. Having that attachment ripped away stings deeper still. Shiro’s parents were family friends and they didn’t want Keith to spend half of his life in the foster system. They adopted him not long after his father's death. He felt bad because at the time they had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but they loved him unconditionally and helped him work through his problems. His life wasn’t perfect. He had to see a therapist every couple weeks to help with his imbalanced brain and fucked up thoughts, but he was finally happy with where he was in his life. It's been a little over three months since his last episode and he felt proud about his progress.  


When the water began to run cold, Keith knew it was time to get out. He dresses quickly, throwing on some ripped skinny jeans and a black hoodie, and pulled his hair into a messy bun. Out in the living room, Pidge is still typing away on her laptop, downing yet another Red Bull.  


“One black coffee as dark as your soul and one Peanut Butter Protein Bar,” Shiro says with a smirk, handing Keith his red thermos and his ( _sad_ ) breakfast.  


He gladly takes the offered food and sits down at the kitchen table. He takes a sip of the dark roast coffee, smiling to himself as the bitter taste splashes across his tongue, saving the protein bar for later.  


Keith looks back over to Pidge, “shouldn't we be concerned about her? Won't that amount of caffeine kill her?”  


“Well, seeing as the lethal dosage of caffeine is about 3,000mg,” Matt spouts off as he walks into the kitchen, “and Pidge has only had a little over 1,200mg in the past 48 hours, I’d say she _probably_ won't die. It also helps that she already has a caffeine addiction so her body is already accustomed to that amount of shit. However, if she does die I'm gonna bring her back to life just so I can beat her ass,” he says, wrapping his arms around Shiro's waist and resting his head on the taller man’s shoulder.  


“Pidge could take you,” Shiro says with a smirk.  


Matt backs up and dramatically places his hand over his heart. Shiro rolls his eyes and turns towards his boyfriend of three and a half years.  


“Shiro! The light of my life! The wind beneath my wings! My one true love! You dare say that I couldn't take my little sister?!” Matt accuses, looking up to his boyfriend’s unamused face.  


“Math, dear,” Pet names for days with these two, Keith thinks to himself, “you and I both know that Pidge would look at you with big puppy dog eyes and you would cave faster than Lance and Hunk did the first time they crossed her.”  


“I would not! I can’t believe you don’t think I could fight my baby sister! We’re breaking up!” Matt sighs dramatically.  


“Okay Math. I’ll go pack my things,” Shiro remarks with no intention of moving.  


“No! Babe! Please!”  


Shiro chuckles and kisses Matt’s cheek. Keith smiles to himself. He loves seeing his brother and Matt interact. They were just so damn cute together; they were everything he wanted. And he would never let himself say it out loud ( _ ~~it's not like he deserves it anyway.~~ Stop it Keith... Positive thoughts!_ ). He starts eating his protein bar, taking three bites and putting it down to watch Shiro and Matt playfully bicker back and forth.  


As his eye catches the time on the stove, he mentally scolds himself.  


“Shit!” he yells.  


He should have left ten minutes ago. Spending so much time in the shower was a terrible idea. Rushing to get ready, he makes a silent prayer for the bus driver to pause for a few minutes.  


He scrambles to find his shoes, tearing apart the living room and his bedroom. Finding them under his bed he haphazardly shoves his feet inside. He grabs his bag, wallet, half eaten breakfast, and keys, rushing out the door with a quick goodbye to everyone.  


“Have fun at school!” he hears Shiro yell before the door slams shut.  


He runs down the stairs two steps at a time and questions yet again why they live on the fourth floor. Sure it’s good cardio and the view is pretty nice, but it’s awful when he has places to be. His heart is racing when he reaches the bottom floor; he sees the bus pulling up to the stop at the end of the complex. He starts sprinting, praying to every deity that the driver isn’t a dick who drives away when they see someone running to catch the bus. However the stars are not aligned and the universe and its deities were clearly ignoring him. He stops under a shady tree to catch his breath and watches the bus as it pulls away from the curb.  


“Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me?!”  


With a swipe of his finger, he pulls up the bus schedule on his phone. Another bus isn't scheduled to come for half an hour. He groans, kicking his foot into the gravel. There’s not enough time to wait around for another bus. There’s a test in two weeks and he needs to make sure he’s fully prepared for it. He swallows his pride and asks Shiro for help.

_Dude, I missed my bus and I don’t have time to wait for the next one. Can you drive me to class?_  


**Yeah. I have to get gas, but it shouldn’t take too long.**  


_Thanks man. I owe you._  


**Let me get dressed and I’ll come get you.**  


_You’re the best._  


**Yeah. I know. See you soon.**

Keith sits down on a nearby bench and pulls out his headphones to jam out to Wires by The Neighborhood. He downs the rest of his coffee and finishes the half eaten protein bar.  


After about 15 minutes of anxious waiting, thinking Shiro forgot or can’t find him, ( _seriously what if he got lost, or suddenly decided he didn’t want to pick him up anymore, or worse what if he died?!_ ) Shiro’s black 2007 Honda Civic rolls up to the bus stop ( _oh thank god_ ).  


“Keith? I’m looking for a Keith?” he asks with a smirk, the only expression this man seems to wear.  


“Dude? Really? Your time as an Uber driver’s made you super annoying when I ask for rides,” Keith replies, rolling his eyes as he gets in the passenger seat.  


“At least I don’t make you pay. Also, buddy, you might wanna fix... all... that,” Shiro says while gesturing to Keith's head.  


Keith pulls down the visor and assesses the mess his hair has turned into. He pulls the elastic out, grimacing as it momentarily gets stuck. Gathering his hair back he pulls the elastic over his knuckles, but as he stretches it over the thick bun it snaps and hits the window.  


“Fuck! That was my last one! Shiro, please tell me you have a hair tie somewhere in this car!”  


“I might. Check the console.”  


He rummages through the console finding napkins ( _fuck_ ), hand sanitizer ( _motherfucker_ ), even chapstick( _for fuck’s sake_ ), but no hair tie in sight.  


“I’m gonna cry, I look like a wet hillbilly.”  


“It’s not _that_ bad,” Shiro side-eyes him with a wince.  


“Oh my god, tell me you at least have a hairbrush!”  


“Oh! That I do have!” Shiro reaches down in between his seat and the console, and pulls out a small pink barbie brush.  


Keith deadpans, “Why do you do this to me?”  


A deep laugh escapes Shiro’s throat as he hands him the toy brush.  


“Look it’s the best I have. I’m really sorry, It’s not like you have to see anybody important today.”  


“Maybe I can tie it back with the broken one. Why do you have a Barbie brush anyway?” Keith searches next to his seat for the broken elastic. “Wait. Nevermind. I’m sure it has something to do with Matt.” Success! He finds the hair tie and loosely ties his hair out of his face.  


“Honestly, fair assumption. But no. I gave Lance a ride home the other day and he left it in here. Why Lance had a Barbie brush, the world may never know.”  


“Every time you tell me any sort of detail about Lance, I kinda wanna puke a little.”  


“He’s actually a really cool guy… which is why…” Shiro mumbles, “ I took his shift tonight…” he side-eyes him again with an uncertain smile.  


“He still sounds like a child… wait, no. No no no no. We’re doing Mega Movie Marathon tonight,” Keith whines, “you can’t skip out on me again!”  


Shiro sighs, “I’m sorry, I know it’s a dick move. But Lance worked a double last night and has a big exam coming up, and I’m a sucker for helping people in need. But I’m also a dick and I’m sorry,” Shiro pulled over to the 7-11 on the corner before the University’s main street, “We can do it tomorrow, I won’t be working and you don’t have class after two.”  


“But Matt and Pidge will be there and they talk through every movie they watch. It’s a disease.” Keith looks at his lap and fidgets with the hippo popsocket Matt gave him. Hanging out with Shiro has become a rare occurrence and the thought of its loss forms a large bubble of anxiety in the pit of his stomach ( _ ~~not even good enough to hang out with your own brother.~~ Shut up!_ ).  


“I’m really sorry Keith, we can move it, or...”  


“No, it’s fine,” Keith interrupts, “Get gas, I’m gonna be late.”  


Shiro gets out of the car and walks inside the shop to pay, leaving Keith to stew in silence. He understands how important Shiro’s job is; their family is broke and it pays well, but he hates how he can’t spend time with his brother anymore. Thursdays are supposed to be their night to just hang out. Matt normally works at the club and Pidge has a night class so it’s just them. It’s nice to just bond over silly movies and talk about life, but lately Shiro has been spending so much time at the stupid club and away from the apartment. They haven’t properly spent time together in over two months. Tonight was supposed to be their night to catch up. Plus, he was gonna have Shiro come with him when he refills his meds ( ~~still too much of a coward to go by yourself~~ ).  


He knows he shouldn’t, but he hates Lance a little more because of this. He’s never met him, but everything Shiro and Matt have ever told him about Lance just leads him to believe that Lance is a child. He’s constantly doing stupid stunts and now he’s preventing Mega Movie night. Keith compulsively sticks Lance’s obnoxious Barbie brush in his bag. He knows it’s petty and won’t get him anywhere, but he feels better about pulling one over on Lance, without him knowing.  


Shiro knocks on the window. Keith reluctantly rolls it down and sighs.  


“I really am sorry buddy. I hate having to cancel on you and I promise I will make it up to you. And I know this doesn’t change anything, but I got you some Sour Skittles as an apology,” he says handing Keith the neon green package. Shiro was used to calming him down by now.  


Keith huffs and reluctantly takes the skittles. “Fine, but don’t you dare take another shift next Thursday, we’re gonna watch Happy Feet again.”  


“Oh my god, not again.” Shiro pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes.  


“Yeah again. I’m watching it tonight without you and again next Thursday with you. And you’re gonna sing along and be happy about it.”  


“Okay, whatever you want buddy.”  


Shiro turns to pump gas while Keith breaks into the Skittles. The sour taste of green apple and grape play across his tongue. This was a start, but he knew he wasn't going to let Shiro off the hook just yet. No amount of his favorite candy could fully excuse the fact that he's missing Mega Movie night.  


Keith could cut the tension in the car with a knife when Shiro gets back from pumping gas. He was suffocating; the walls of the car slowly closing around him. Instead of sitting in awkward silence, he decides to put his earbuds back in. Monster by Imagine Dragons comes on a little louder than he initially intended. He knows Shiro can hear it, but right now he's past the point of caring. He just wants to get to class as soon as possible, preferably without causing an incident.  


Shiro pulls up to his building and frowns at him. Keith takes off his headphones and puts them in his bag.  


“I'm really sorry buddy.” He zips his bag up.  


“I know you are. I just wish we could've hung out tonight.” He opens the door.  


“Yeah, I know.” He steps out.  


“Well, I should go. Class starts in a few minutes.” He shuts the door behind him with a little too much force than he intended.  


“Right. Yeah. Have fun,” Shiro says to himself.  


Keith shoulders his bag and runs to make it to class on time. When he arrives, his usual seat is occupied. He nervously starts chewing the inside of his cheek, looking around before finding an empty spot next to the cute boy with an eyebrow piercing, who looks like he might pass out at any moment. Keith has had a small crush on this kid since the beginning of the semester. He makes his way over, wishing he caught the bus on time so he could sit in his normal spot. It was perfect. It was in the center of the room and it had the best view of the board. He could have been comfortable, instead of nervously sitting next to the cute guy. (And his mood had nothing to do with how upset he already was from missing Mega Movie Marathon Night).  


He sits down and pulls his notebook out of his bag, glancing at the brown-haired boy. His head rests on his left hand, long eyelashes fluttering as he struggles to stay awake. What looks like the remnants of eyeliner is smeared over his eyelids. As if sensing Keith’s gaze, he glances over and raises an eyebrow ( _well shit, that’s embarrassing_ ). Keith looks away with a faint blush staining his cheeks. As he looks up, the professor walks in and quickly jumps into that day’s lesson.  


Keith sits diligently taking notes for about ten minutes before he hears soft snoring next to him. His crush fell asleep on top of his notebook, his blue pen held loosely in his hand. Keith gently prods the boy to wake him up. Sitting up with a small jolt, he sends Keith a thankful smile and starts scribbling his own notes. Keith turns his attention back to the professor, taking notes about entropy and equilibrium and a multitude of other things he'll need to look up later, trying not to think about how hot it is in here. Not fifteen minutes later a light rhythmic snore starts up again to his left. He rolls his eyes and decides to let the boy sleep, thinking he’ll just get his number and send him the notes. He swears to himself that that’s the only reason.  


The class passes by uneventfully. The only sounds that can be heard are the professor’s drone, the other students’ scratching on their papers, and the quiet snores from Sleepy Boy™. Keith looks around to see if anyone else notices the boy snoozing next to him, but they either can’t hear him or don’t care, which he guessed was expected in college. Why is this guy so tired? And why the hell did he think it was a good idea to come to class? He was obviously dead on his feet, yet here he was. Sleeping without a care in the world. ( _God he was pretty._ )  


“Dude,” Keith said, poking the Sleepy Boy™ in the side at the end of class, a blush high on his cheeks, “dude. Wake up.”  


The guy jerks awake, a slight amount of dribble on his chin, something Keith finds oddly endearing. He sends Keith a questioning look.  


“You fell asleep. I thought I’d leave you alone and just give you a copy of my notes.”  


“Oh, uh, thanks. I worked a double last night so I didn’t get much sleep, obviously…” he pauses, eyes flicking down momentarily to Keith's lips, “probably shouldn’t have come today huh,” he breathes out carding a shaky hand through his deep brown hair, “but we have that test in two weeks and I didn’t want to miss anything,” he babbles and pushes his arms out in a stretch.  


“Yeah. No problem. Let me give you my number, so you can get… if you want the notes,” Keith stutters when he catches the sliver of bare skin as the guy’s hoodie rides up.  
“Right. Yeah,” the boy nods while pulling out his phone.  


As Keith recites his number he gives the boy ( _more of a man really_ ) a once over. He’s cute. Really cute. He’s wearing black sweatpants and a dark blue hoodie, but it doesn’t hide the fact that he’s fit. His skin was flawless. ( _Like not even Greek sculptures look this fucking nice._ ) Now that he could see him clearly, there was definitely black eyeliner smudged around his eyes, yet that didn’t distract from the fact that his eyes were so blue he felt like he could drown in them. The eyebrow piercing is just the cherry on top of an attractive sundae.  


“Thanks. Wait. What’s your name?”  


“Keith,” he mumbles and it comes out more like Keef he thinks.  


“...okay? Well I should go... Thanks again. I’ll text you later tonight to get your notes. I owe you big time and you can cash that favor in, anytime,” he says bending down to pick up his bag.  


His sweatpants ride up a bit and Keith briefly catches a glimpse of fishnets. The boy says something else, but Keith is too distracted by the fishnets to catch what he said.  


“Yeah,” he says nodding in agreement ( _when in doubt just agree_ ).  


“Right. Well see you around,” he replies with a sleepy smile.  


Keith watches the boy leave. Why would he have a pair of fishnets under his pants? What else was he hiding underneath all that bulky clothing? He shakes his head, trying to shake the mental image of the boy half-naked out of his head.  


“Wait, I didn’t get your… name,” he says to empty air. 

 

Keith throws his bag down and collapses on his bed. Exhaustion melts his bones and knowing he had to spend the night alone made him feel worse. He _could_ study for his test, but he just doesn’t have it in him. The thought about watching one of the movies Shiro had picked out crosses his mind, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He may be mad at Shiro, arguably less so than this morning, but he couldn’t betray his trust like that. He decides instead to watch Happy Feet, for the millionth time.  


To even put into words the amount of joy this movie gives him is nearly impossible. He pulls the download up on his laptop and hooks it up to his flat screen. Nostalgia rushes through his veins and elation through his mind. The movie starts with a cover of Golden Slumbers; pretty purple and green Northern Lights dancing across the screen. Just something about penguins singing to find the love of their life resonates deep within him. And even better, an outcast penguin who can’t sing but still finds love. It lets him know there’s hope for him yet.  


Halfway through the movie he hears his phone chime, the single G note signaling he got a text. He digs his phone out of his jacket pocket. A number he doesn’t recognize pops up, but only one person could have sent the message.

**_Hey man, can you send me the notes?_**  


_Yeah, give me a second to find them._  


_**Thanks again**_  


_No problem._

He jumps off the bed and grabs his bag and notebook, flipping through the pages. Looking for any embarrassing doodles or notes. God, he’d be mortified if he wrote something stupid in there. The thought of his middle school crush on Pete Wentz and how he used to write ‘Keith+Pete’ in a heart in the margins of his notebooks comes to mind.  


_Sorry if it’s hard to read. My handwriting isn’t the best. [IMG Attached][7]_  


**_God you’re a lifesaver. I owe you_**  


_You owe yourself some sleep. You looked like you were dying._  


_Sorry. That was rude._  


**_Nah, you’re right. I only got like 2 hours of sleep and I felt like I was gonna die_**  


_Try not to, I don’t think that would be very good for your GPA._  


**_Yeah, you’re probably right lol_ **

Keith didn’t know how to respond to that message, so he didn’t.  


As the credits roll, he sheds a few tears of happiness for Mumble finally finding his place. The screen goes black right as his stomach lets out a loud growl at him. He stumbles out of bed and begins his quest to find food. He was raiding the refrigerator when his phone sang again. It was his cute Sleepy Boy.

**_How bad would it be if I didn’t study for this stupid test tonight?_**  


_I mean it’s only Thursday. You have all weekend and next week to study._  


**_Yeah you right. Happy Feet is callin my name_**  


_Bruh, Happy Feet?_  


**_Do not judge, Happy Feet is a cinematic masterpiece_**  


_Yeah I’m not judging. I literally just finished watching it…_  


**_Wait. Seriously?_**  


**_Ok it’s settled, we have to hang out now. This is the universe telling me we’re going to be best friends_ **

Wow ok, his crush wants to hang out with him. What does he say? He’s never gotten this far before.

_Uh, yeah sure. I’m free Sunday night if you want to study for the test?_  


**_Shit, I would but I have to work all weekend. I’m also kind of busy throughout the week, I can probs switch shifts on Thursday tho?_**  


_Funny enough, I have plans Thursday night. Next Friday?_

Sleepy Boy leaves him on read… for 15 minutes… 20 minutes now. What the hell? They were making plans and he just bails? Did he say something wrong? Was taking away his Friday too much?  


The front door slams open and he looks up to see Pidge in a bright green, oversized sweater.  


“If you need me, I’ll be dead for the next 48 hours,” she closes her eyes, turns around and, Keith assumes, heads to bed.  


“Wait! I need advice!” He runs after her, grabbing her arm. “What does it mean when somebody leaves you on read for like 30 minutes?”  


“Boy bye, I’m going to _bed_. I don’t have time for your boy trouble,” she yanks her arm free and heads to her room across from his.  


“It’s not boy trouble. It’s just a guy I met in class and wants to study. He asked if I wanted to hang out and I told him we could study for the test coming up. But he said he was busy and I offered next Friday. But he’s left me on read for like ever,” he fires out rapidly.  


Her eyes droop and she swipes a hand over her face, “How you gonna say it’s not boy trouble when you legit just explained the definition of boy trouble? He probably just fell asleep, something I would really like to do!”  


“Yeah you’re right, sleep… good idea.”  


His mind races and he spaces out. Pidge, perfectly used to Keith's odd mannerisms, rolls her eyes and walks away. Keith zones back in when he hears Pidge slam her bedroom door. He stood there wishing Sleepy Boy™️ would text him back. Logically, he probably fell asleep. He was dead on his feet earlier. But that didn't stop him from worrying if he said something wrong ( _ ~~you probably did.~~ Shut up! ~~Why would he want to hang out with someone like you?~~ I said shut up!!_ ).  


He grabs ( _Shiro’s_ ) instant Mac n’ Cheese from the pantry and puts it in the microwave, periodically checking his phone just in case he didn't hear his ringtone.  


The G note pops up again.

**Hey, just wanted to let you know I’ll be home around 5. Don’t let Pidge have any more caffeine. Love you buddy**

Now is not the time, Shiro. Why did that give him a mini heart attack? He could feel butterflies in his stomach just at the idea that the cute boy finally texted him back. The words “I’m so gay” flash across his mind.  


The G note rings yet again. And for fuck’s sake if that’s Shiro telling him to give Matt a kiss for him, he will eat every last instant Mac in this damn apartment.

**_Shit! Sorry dude! Friday is cool with me. My roommate made dinner and I could easily sleep 1000 years right now. My B._**  


_No problem, get some sleep. See you Friday._

Keith texts back immediately, because he has no impulse control and because leaving Sleepy Boy™ on read seems impossible at this point. At least now he knows he didn’t say anything stupid or wrong. He has a date.

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter in two weeks (hopefully). Here's our [tumblr](https://prettypinkpotent.tumblr.com/).


End file.
